How to Contribute

Unlike many public wikis, the Lost Plays Database is not open to public editing: for quality control, potential contributors must apply to the editors for contributing privileges.
Before continuing with the application process, please take a moment to consider the following principles:

• The Lost Plays Database (LPD) operates on the understanding that titles and references to plays in documentary sources are evidence of discrete lost texts unless compelling corroborating evidence confirms identification with an extant text. The critical history of lost plays has been the opposite: scholars have identified unusual titles with surviving texts, as in the familiar identification of “Love’s Labour’s Won” with either The Taming of the Shrew or All’s Well That Ends Well. In the LPD we take documentary evidence literally until there is solid proof otherwise.

• The LPD entries are organized according to a pre-designed template. Variations on sub-categories are permissible, even often desirable, but we ask that the template headings themselves be employed without alteration.

• The integrity of the categories in the template is crucial. “Historical Records” and “Theatrical Provenance” are for documentary evidence, not scholars’ opinions however venerable the scholar and the opinion. The contributor’s judgment comes increasingly into play as the categories move from a transcribing of documents to the tracking of critical opinion to guesswork; the final category of “For What It’s Worth” is the catch-all for tangential commentary.

Expressing an interest in contributing to the LPD is a 2-step process. The first step helps us decide whether or not to approve account requests. The second step helps us with the technical side of setting up an account for you.

1) Email the editors at lost-plays@unimelb.edu.au with answers to the following:

• Academic status and affiliation (if you are a graduate student, provide the name of your dissertation director)

• Publications relevant to lost plays

• What previous experience have you had (if any) with wikis or online scholarship?

• What is your interest in the Lost Plays Database? Comment specifically on its relevance to your scholarship.

• If you have in mind entries you would like to provide, specify here and explain why.

2) Click the "Create User Account" link here or in the sidebar menu (the menu on the left side of the screen) and provide the following brief information:

• enter your name and email address (preferably institutional, where appropriate);

• accept the terms of service for contributing to the Lost Plays Database;

• provide a brief bio including relevant academic publications. This information will assist the editors in deciding whether or not an applicant is suitable, and will also become the bio-data publicly displayed on the wiki under the contributor's user name (assuming the applicant is granted contributing privileges).

You will then be sent an automatically generated email containing a link which must be clicked to verify your contact information. The editors will use this email address to contact you regarding the status of your application.

Any questions should be directed to the editors at: lost-plays@unimelb.edu.au